The music industry is still in free fall with CD sales plumetting by about seven per cent a year. Outlawing the digital music piracy hasn’t really worked, and now the big music producers are casting about for new models. One innovative development has been the introduction of unlimited download services, which allow subscribers “free” access to music after paying an annual subscription fee or buying a special mobile phone. The music companies win because they get some of the revenue, and many say that new services such as Comes With Music, which was launched in Britain last fall by Nokia, might finally help to curb illegal downloads.
The New York Times